The City of Waterloo is taking a detour en route to slowing traffic in school zones after the provincial government banned speed cameras.
Four cameras were up and running in Waterloo when Premier Doug Ford decided to ban their use in November 2025, alleging that the program was a “cash grab.”
Now, the city will look to install alternate measures at local schools to slow traffic, starting with the four school zones that previously operated speed cameras, including St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School, St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School, Keats Way Public School and MacGregor Senior Public School.
In place of speed cameras, the city plans to raise the crosswalks in front of those schools and install speed humps to slow drivers. The speed limits in the school zones are 30 km/h.
In addition to those calming features, the city will install speed radar boards that show drivers how fast they’re going, alerting them to slow down without recording speeds and doling out tickets.
The project is set to cost roughly $350,000; however, city staff say that it will be fully funded through regional and provincial funds.
Once calming measures are installed at those four schools, the city will turn their attention to the six schools that were set to receive speed cameras before the program was banned. Those schools include Holy Rosary
Catholic Elementary School, Vista Hills Public School, Westvale Public Elementary School, Sir Edgar Bauer Catholic Elementary School, Cedarbrae Public School and St. Matthew’s Catholic Elementary School.
Waterloo council will consider the project at a meeting on Monday afternoon.
